One of the key challenges facing modern industrialized society is the rapid depletion of crude oil, which is the primary source for most transportation fuels and many organic chemicals. The petrochemical industry represents a substantial benefit to human society and the invention and commercialization of alternative sources for petrochemicals is of great importance.
One category of organic chemicals that is often produced from petroleum includes aromatics and cycloparaffins. These chemicals have a wide range of uses including serving as monomers for many types of polymers, paints, and coatings, serving as chemical intermediates for many types of industrial and consumer chemicals, and serving as valuable chemical components of heterogeneous transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel, aviation gasoline, and jet fuel.
Surprisingly, very little work has been done to develop commercially-relevant products rich in aromatics and/or cycloparaffins generated from triacylglycerides (TAGs) and other fatty acids. Thus, a need exists to provide an alternative source for these chemicals so that demand can be satisfied as the available supply of source material, i.e., crude oil, is depleted.